Me in Three Guises

Well, The Mystery Goddess of Shutter and Aperture finally revealed herself to me and I managed to capture enough time & light to photograph myself after all. At least the veil parted long enough to set up my tripod and shoot three separate sessions, and for that I am deeply grateful. Here are my favorites from each one, and what I like about them.


The 'theme' I was exploring in all these shots was what it's like to be a human in nature; who I am as a 'natural' being. This one came closest to expressing it for me. I'm in the foreground, a little fuzzy & out of focus, while the tree behind me is sharp, clear. I'm looking straight at the camera... just being there, like a deer looking up from eating, in her own part of the woods; only slightly curious, unafraid. Looking somehow both amused and accusing, registering the disturbance in the stillness of that moment. It's a very familiar expression and somehow intriguing for the complexity of the simplicity it reveals.


This image was from the first session. There was a massive redwood tree about 15 feet away from the small deck behind my room, so I set up the tripod to shoot myself against its broad expanse... I'd taken a number of shots and wasn't getting the connection with the tree that I wanted, so I took myself to a more internal place by hiding behind my hair, and trying to become part of the rough web and vine-trailed bark behind me.

I liked the hint of playfulness I see here, but there is also a kind of cowering in the way that the shoulders are hunched up that is also true and reveals the fear that also lurks in my secret heart.

This might be my favorite of the three. I felt the most 'in nature' and unconcerned with the way I look (which is frankly dreadful - I could not BELIEVE those three-tiered circles under my eyes!).

I love the textures - the rough bark and skin, dried leaves & velvet - and the contrasts - of color, the highlights and shadows, the direct stare/glare of the facial expression and the submissive quivering of the leaves in the foreground. I look at home and in control of myself & my world.